TOKYO, October 17, 2012 – CGC Japan Co., Ltd. and Rakuten Edy, Inc. today announced that they have agreed to encourage the small- and medium-sized supermarkets that are members of the CGC Group to begin accepting Rakuten Edy e-money for payments.
The CGC Group is a retail industry organization comprising small- and medium-sized supermarkets located across Japan, including 228 companies and 3,738 stores with annual gross sales of some 4.27 trillion yen as of October 2012. Each supermarket works with the CGC Group to develop products, procure merchandise, implement logistics operations, run IT systems, engage in sales promotions and provide training to staff, in order to provide superior quality product and services to consumers in the local communities where they are located.
With e-money being used more frequently for daily purchases, the CGC Group will start accepting Rakuten Edy as a form of payment to further enhance customer convenience.
The adoption of e-money is expected to have the following benefits for the CGC Group:
(1) Improved customer convenience through the diversification of payment methods;
(2) Quicker checkouts and reduced errors at the cash register;
(3) Further differentiation from other supermarkets; and
(4) The affinity for accepting a form of e-money that is already used at more than 350,000 retail outlets across Japan, including
supermarkets and drug stores.
As part of the deal, CGC Group members will be able to sign simplified contracts and pay a lower initial setup fee than the one commonly charged in order to start processing e-money. This will make it much more attractive for small- and medium-sized supermarkets to accept e-money payments, which in turn will help to increase customer traffic.
Going forward, the CGC Group and Rakuten Edy will continue to provide community-oriented services aimed at creating a more convenient shopping experience for customers.
CGC Japan: http://www.cgcjapan.co.jp/
Rakuten Edy: https://www.rakuten-edy.co.jp/